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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Peter discuss with Miss Hillyard?

2. Who attempts to punch Peter while Peter is playing the piano?

3. What do Peter and Harriet discuss in the evening after the incident of the science lab?

4. Who sees Miss Hillyard in the Fellows Garden on the night of the prank call?

5. Whom does the Dean call an incredibly beautiful young man?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the women discuss with Peter over coffee?

2. Why does Harriet contact Peter in Chapter 13?

3. What causes Peter and Harriet to disagree in Chapter 18?

4. What causes the Warden to agree to seek professional help in solving the mystery?

5. What do Carrie and Annie notice about the science lab?

6. What is Miss Edwards's opinion after Harriet tells her about the prank call?

7. What drives Miss Newland to madness?

8. How do Peter and Harriet spend their day together after he returns from York?

9. How do Harriet and Peter spend the afternoon of his first day in Oxford?

10. What does Pomfret accuse Harriet of when he meets her in Chapter 12?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Annie is obviously the culprit, but it could be said that she is driven to her crimes. Answer the following questions.

1) Why does Annie attack Miss de Vine?

2) Why does Annie attack the college?

3) Are Annie's actions understandable?

4) If you were in charge of dealing with Annie, what would you do?

Essay Topic 2

Detective fiction usually involves a central character who solves the mystery. In the case of Gaudy Night, however, it is not Harriet but Peter who solves the mystery. Which one do you think is the main character of the book?

Essay Topic 3

The issue of women's education versus domesticity occurs frequently in Gaudy Night. Even Harriet is at one time disposed to believe that the culprit is one of the female dons who has gone mad from learning and suppressed sexual desires. How is it ironic that Annie, a married uneducated women, is the mad culprit? Is Dorothy Sayers conveying a message through this? In your answer, consider the author's own life experience.

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